Reality Check
by S.P.D. Gold Ranger
Summary: After the disaster at Anna Miller's, Piro feels bad about what happened, and Ping tries to make him feel better. Spoilers for the end of chapter seven.


Piro often felt many ways.

He sometimes felt romantic, due to all the shoujo manga he reads.

He sometimes felt l33t (he would never admit this to anyone, _especially_ if Largo was nearby), like when he delivers a headshot to Largo in Quake 3.

But tonight, Piro felt absolutely terrible.

He slowly dragged his feet across the floor of their Megagamers apartment, the recent events STILL playing through his mind like a rusty, broken record player.

"/_Of course, I can count on you to beat up anyone who tries, RIGHT?\"_

_That confused Piro._

"/_Wh... what? But... I didn't... Kimiko-san, I'm sorry!! I didn't mean to break that guy's camera, it's just... you were so upset and I...\"_

_Kimiko spun around to face Piro, the anger evident in her hazel eyes._

"/_And what, that makes it okay?! If I'm stupid enough to believe these people might appreciate my inner feelings and not just use them as fluff in their sexual fantasies, that's MY problem!!!\"_

"/_I'm sorry!! I didn't... I didn't mean to...\"_

"/_Of course, it's all my fault for being so desperate to talk to you. Sounding so stupid and weak and pathetic and scared... I bet you couldn't get down here fast enough.\"_

"/_Of course!! I was worried about you!!\"_

"/_Couldn't wait to come down here and 'save' me? Save me from myself and my pathetic delusions, score some points by beating up a bunch of fanboys... you probably even thought it'd help you get some tonight!!!\"_

_Kimiko instantly felt bad about having said something like that, but by the time she did, it was too late to take it back. Her anger morphed into sadness as she gazed back at a distraught Piro._

_She expected him to start yelling back._

_He only responded with four words, in a soft voice as the subway door closed._

"/_I didn't deserve that.\"_

Piro flopped down onto the couch with a rather unimpressive thud, still feeling horrible about what had gone down on the subway. He was infinitely glad that Largo had finally fallen asleep.

_I just wanted to help her out. Those damn fanboys were making her uncomfortable and I just wanted them to stop..._ Piro thought. _Did I go too far or something? Should I have stayed out of her way or..._

"/Piro-kun? Is everything okay?\"

Snapping out of his train of thought, Piro looked up and noticed that Ping was hovering above him, a concerned look on her face.

"/Ping? You're still up? It's almost two-thirty.\"

"/I heard you come in, and you sounded awfully sad. Are you feeling okay, Piro-kun?\"

Piro sighed heavily. "/I wish...\"

Ping sat down by Piro and draped an arm around him. "/Do you want to talk about it, Piro-kun?\"

Piro did just that, explaining to Ping the events of the disastrous debacle at Anna Miller's, how he had attempted to defend Kimiko from her obsessive fanboys, and how it had all gone south when Kimiko took the assistance the wrong way.

"/That must have hurt, Piro-kun...\"

"/It did, Ping. I mean, you know I like Kimiko-san, and I didn't want her to have to deal with her fanboys all by herself...\"

Ping then draped her other arm around Piro, glad that he was opening up to her.

"/I'm sure Nanasawa-san is probably just confused about all of this. You should talk to her tomorrow.\"

"/I'm worried that things are only going to get worse, Ping. I don't want her to get angry at me again... ARGH!!!!\"

Piro frantically shook his head.

"/Why does this always happen every time I meet a girl I like?! It's just not fair!!\"

Not even really noticing that he was doing it, Piro looked over at the sleeping Largo, who was snoring and saying things like "d13 f00lz d13" in his sleep.

"/I mean, look at Largo. He's got someone, and he doesn't even really know what he's doing, but he does it anyway. What I wouldn't give to have the confidence he does...\"

"/Piro-kun, you DO have confidence. I know you do. Sometimes, you have to just look past the feelings you think you have, and look for the feelings you DO have. Someone said that to me the other day.\"

Piro finally broke out into a smile, the first he'd had since the disaster. "/That... actually made me feel a bit better.\"

Ping smiled as well. "/That was the intent.\"

To Ping's surprise, Piro leaned forward to hug her. Ping graciously returned the embrace, glad Piro was happy again.

"/Well, I'm gonna hit the hay now, Ping. I'll see you in the morning. And if Largo wakes up with nothing but his boxers on again, you can go ahead and clobber him.\"

Ping just giggled and nodded. And with that, Piro headed to bed.

_Guess I just needed a reality check,_ Piro thought, feeling a little better. _I'll talk to Kimiko-san tomorrow._

Ping sat there on the couch for a little bit, watching Piro fall asleep and watching Largo make random motions and say things like "y3s, j00 d34d, f00" and "z0m8i3z b3 pwn43d" in his sleep.

When she was sure Piro was asleep, she walked up to him, leaned down, and kissed him on the cheek. "/Good night, Piro-kun.\"

That done, Ping walked back to her station and plugged her charging cable into her right earblade. Then, she laid down and fell asleep.

"/_...look for the feelings you DO have...\"_

And a sweet smile broke out on Ping's face as she slept.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**AUTHOR'S NOTE CORNER**

Okay, time to do some explaining.

Recently (as in a couple months ago), I started reading Megatokyo. Yes, yes, I know I'm ten years late to the party. Shut it.

Basically, I instantly got hooked to the series. I found the first three books (chapters 0-4) at my local library, and not a day later, I went to the website and read the entire rest of the story (chapters 5-10) in one day. It has officially become my absolute favorite web-comic.

Now, as to the subject material of this little one-shot, I know that Piro x Ping is what you see. It's the truth. Even though I'm a HUGE supporter of Piro x Kimiko (along with Largo x Erika), Ping is my absolute favorite character in the series, and I believe she needs some love!! So out of that thought came this little ditty that I just wrote. As you can tell, it's a little add-on to the end of chapter 7. As always, brackets like this (/ \) mean Japanese speakage.

And now I'm done explaining. R34d, r3v13w, 4nd 3nj0y, p30pl3z!!

Time to set sail,  
Nick


End file.
